Once had a long list of WWII movies I would like to see made but narrowed it down to a handful...feel free to add yours. 1.) Operation Vengeance, a top secret mission with long-range P-38's, in shooting down Admiral Yamamoto's plane of the IJN on April 18, 1943, during the Solomon Islands campaign. 2.) Operation Citadel aka the Battle of Kursk in July-August 1943 on the Eastern Front, largest tank battle on the big screen...awesome. 3.) Battle of Savo Island in August, 1942 during the Guadalcanal Campaign...sometimes the Allies took a beating and this was one of them. 4.) The Gran Sasso Raid to rescue captured Benito Mussolini in Sept. 1943 by SS Otto Skorzeny and his commandos. 5.) A remake of the legendary Flying Tigers in China, hey John Wayne shouldn't get all the credit. So there you have part of my wish list....as for WWI..has to be the Battle of Jutland.
Manstein' s counter attack spring 1943 beating the Red Army back after Stalingrad including Häusser' s retreat from Kharkov against Hitler's direct order to keep the city.
There is another thread on this subject wafting around somewhere but I can't be arsed to find it and merge. I'll add, a good movie about The Battle Off Samar. They just need to make sure they leave out bogus inter-racial love stories, pilots that change aircraft, and maverick sergeants that are too tough on his men, but they love him anyway. Just tell us about the Sammy B, the Gambier Bay, and the men of Taffy 3. Another good one would be, of course, the stand by the I&R Platoon/394th IR at Lanzerath, Belgium.
I love the big bombs. Tall boy vs anything. Or Grand slam. wodeerful.preferably against Tirpitz but I take any sub bunker, too.....
I think this is the one Slipdigit mentioned. http://ww2f.com/threads/should-there-be-a-modern-remake-of-the-longest-day.70654/
A movie shot entirely in the engine room of a slow freighter heading for England. The audience wouldn't be allowed to leave the theater until the amount of time required for the trip has passed. Sequel: "The Guard" Filmed entirely from a guard tower at POW camp in Montana, in February. Special effects, "Surround Freeze" at each theater. Patrons can leave after hostilities have ended.
Speaking of freezing...I can't recall a war movie made about the Aleutian Islands campaign of 1942-43, except for a US government propaganda film called "Report From The Aleutians" from 1943...I guess even John Wayne didn't want to go there.
Has there been a decent film made about the Battles at Cassino? That might be a challenge to do and keep under 3 hours.
Other than the usual documentaries about Monte Casino..the only real movie I can recall was "The Story of G.I. Joe" from 1945, as Opana just pointed out and I think some German/Italian co-produced film during the 60's...my Dad arrived in Italy on a troopship that spring but was kept in reserve.
...Count Ciano -the perfect ''''standard''' entertaining movie--with the familial aspect .....like a lot of people, he's good to go in the early years when Germany is getting victory after victory --conquering all over ...[ plot twist-changes ] .but things go bad for Italy and Germany.. ...[ plot twist big time ] Germany invades her Ally....massacres/etc ..... then our protagonist goes against his father in law...and then executed by his father in law, after the daughter begs [ much crying ] her father to spare his life..she also tries to blackmail---HER FATHER --then the father in law is lynched .....your ''standard'' Soap Opera- [ except with an execution and lynching!!! ] -but it's not fiction is it already a movie?? Amazon.com: Watch Mussolini's Daughter | Prime Video Edda (TV Movie 2005) - IMDb .well, 2005, no wonder
I was thinking of a film covering the broader story of the efforts at Cassino. The Story of GI Joe sounds closer to what I had in mind.
I have a feeling there should be very close co-operation with the Italians. As you know about the bombing I read there was a long time a sign reading ' no dogs or Americans' describing the Italian feeling about it.
Mortain. The fighting was intense. The casualties were horrific. And it is one of those battles that was relatively contained within a small area, so could be encompassed within a film much better than most battles. Moreover, it changed the course of the war, causing the fall of France to the allies far faster and with far fewer casualties than would otherwise be the case. The Germans concentrated the great bulk of their armored forces at that one point, expecting to break through within hours. Yet the line held for days while Patton and Montgomery encircled the entire area leaving the Germans to flee through the only gap at Falaise under artillery fire and Jabo attacks that were the most intense of the entire war. The Germans escaped France with only about 40% of their personnel (or less depending on whose estimate you use), and lost almost all of their armor, vehicles and supplies. Those that got out were demoralized and the loss of supplies, armor, trained soldiers and weapons was pretty well impossible to replace at that point of the war.
Another Hitler mistake. While the Allied surrounded the Germans, Hitler ordered the forces to attack west to cut the Patton's supply line. The Allied forces held the panzers and then it was Running east to get away from the forming posket.
I assume you're talking about Mortain? If so, yes. If the Germans hadn't squandered their forces in that one counterattack and allowed the allies free movement around them, they might have held France right into winter. They had better supply lines than the make-shift ports in Normandy, their forces in France were substantial and they had a free hand in shifting more forces from the low countries and Germany itself. It is also true that the German commanders on the ground wanted to pull back after the initial bloody nose made them realize they had no chance to reach Avranches. Hitler held them there in that meat grinder while Patton made the great circle around them, and the Brits and Canadians pushed through the now weakened (because of forces pulled for Mortain/Avranches) German line to close the gap. The only reason Mortain isn't more famous is that the debacle at Falaise happened so quickly afterwards (because of Mortain) that the eyes of the world shifted there and to the fall of most of France in those desperate days at the end of summer. I would even argue that Mortain/Falaise was the great death blow to the German army from which they never recovered. Yes, they did pull together a sizable force for the Ardennes attack, but they did that only by pulling forces from the east which allowed the Russians to hasten their advance. From that point on, they had no real reserves. To strengthen one sector was to weaken another, and the new replacements coming in were Kriegsmarine, Luftwaffe, railroad guards and the poorly trained young and old, men who fought poorly and died quickly. .